What’s the word on the street?

From
Havana                                                                       Read Spanish Version

What’s
the word on the street?

By
Manuel Alberto Ramy
maprogre@gamail.com

Next
Feb. 24 the new National Assembly of the People’s Power (Parliament)
will be installed. This assembly, which will last five years, may
have to make the most important decisions since the Cuban revolution
installed Parliament in 1976.

Raúl
Castro, the interim president, defined the circumstances under which
the new Parliament will begin its term as "a complex stage in
which we have to face different situations and major decisions,
little by little."

But
what does the ordinary Cuban think and expects? With this question, I
walked the streets and stopped at bus stops, pharmacies, markets,
barbershops, the Malecón, the Coppelia ice-cream parlor and
the corner of G and 23rd in El Vedado.

"Nothing
will happen. Like the song goes, life stays the same," opines
Aleida, 51, housewife, outside the pharmacy at 17th and J in El
Vedado. "I’m tired of waiting for what doesn’t come," she
adds.

But
Miguel, 53, a lawyer and a member of the Communist Party of Cuba
(CPC), thinks differently.

"Raúl
will formally assume the presidency of the Councils of State and
Ministers. As he himself has said, he is able to gradually promote —
without haste but also without hesitation — changes of all types
that are absolutely necessary and that the people require," he
says. 

Shopping
bag in hand, the lawyer leaves the farmers market at Tulipán
Street, in Nuevo Vedado. In lawyerly language, he says "the
Assembly must begin an unprecedented task, in a real leading role,
truly fulfilling its role as the depository of the people’s
sovereignty."

While
complaining about the prices at the farmers market, Rosa, 45, a
technician and CPC member, says that "Raúl will occupy
the presidency of this country and Fidel will continue in his present
role as an indispensable counselor."

She
expects changes "in some ministries," although she doesn’t
think they will be sufficient. "What’s needed is a different
policy that resolves the situation," she says. And she shows me
her shopping bag and her coin purse, with three 1-peso coins.

There
are plenty of Cubans who, like Rosa, believe the problem is basic and
that it’s not enough just to change the members of the cast.

"Along
with the changes that need to materialize, we’ll have to establish —
at all levels — a permanent and effective control by the workers,
because socialism in Cuba must be built through a dictatorship of the
proletariat, not of the functionaries, much less the bureaucrats,"
said Miguel, the lawyer.

Alberto,
60, an engineer, believes the Assembly "wants to reelect Fidel,
but he won’t accept it, although he will remain as First Secretary of
the CPC until the next Party congress."

The
last Party congress was held in 1997.

"Nobody
can overthrow [the system] but nobody can fix it, either," said,
mockingly, a 20-year-old man climbing on a bicycle. "We have to
keep on inventing" [making a living in unofficial ways] he adds,
as he pedals away.

I
think of another pedal, the one that moves the chain of production.
The big challenge is to speed it up in terms of productivity.

"How
can we have productivity when the money is not enough and I don’t
have chavitos [convertible pesos]?" argues Isidro, 42, a
mid-level technician in a specialty he does not identify. Along with
his 10-year-old son, Isidro stands on line at the Coppelia ice-cream
parlor in Havana’s midtown Rampa.

"So
long as there are two currencies, this will not be fixed," he
adds, launching into a litany of expenses, ranging from his purchases
at the farmers market ("because the [ration] card lasts only 10
days") to his payments for the new household appliances and the
rising cost of electricity.

"All
I have left is for another visit to Coppelia. Then I have to find
ways to buy shoes for my son, which must be paid in convertible
currency, and our toothpaste and clothing." He hopes the
situation will improve "because if it doesn’t, where will we end
up?"

The
corner of 23rd and G in El Vedado is a meeting place for journalism
students. The School of Communications is a few yards from the
corner. I approach several students. Some don’t want to answer,
others do, but they request anonymity.

One
of them says "there are too many problems in all sectors of
life. To solve them is a challenge." To him, "the economy
is the knot that must be either opened or cut." He adds, that
"if cooperatives were given a space in the sectors of
construction and services" the situation would improve with
greater speed. He believes that Raúl "is on that
wavelength, but not everyone in the Party thinks like him."

Another
student goes directly to the problems of his future profession. "In
Cuba, there are excellent journalists, but that’s not the problem,"
he says, leaving an open question.

A
loquacious man, he presents two examples. "The other day, the TV
showed an interview with a UCI student [University of Computer
Sciences] in which he responds to the manipulations that the
international media did to some questions and opinions he had
expressed to Alarcón. We know the answer but not what actually
happened. That’s no way to inform."

He
gives another example, in the shape of a question: "If Cuba is a
shareholder in TeleSur, which broadcasts good programs round the
clock, why can’t we watch TeleSur?"

Sitting
on the Malecón seawall, a couple chat and are willing to be
interrupted. María is 27, a graduate in applied mathematics;
René is 30, a computer sciences major. They’re waiting for
some friends to go to a party.

"I
wish and hope that Raúl will assume total control, so that he
may make the necessary changes," María says.

To
René, who shares that opinion, "Raúl needs to make
substitutions in the Council of Ministers and form a team with
greater chances to produce the changes that are needed in this
country. The practice, over the past many years, is to make changes."
And he recalls that Raúl spoke of structural and mindset
changes. "The way we are, we cannot go on," he affirms.

Both
opine that Fidel will no longer preside over the country. "He
has said that he will not cling to power and I believe him. But he’ll
continue to be the leader."

As
I left, one of the couples they were waiting for arrived, and they
also gave me their opinions. Jorge Luis, 24, is a humanities major;
Alejandra, 24, is an economist.

"We
mustn’t ask more from Fidel," says Jorge Luis, for whom "the
strong candidate is Raúl." He believes that "the
work must be more decisive than heretofore," and adds that he
will be in touch "with the first people to be elected, otherwise
the usual immobility will remain. Ah, and the Assembly will have to
move closer to the masses."

Alejandra
agrees. She adds that there’s "an urgency to act" and says
the topic of the two currencies "must be resolved, but not by
decree." She explains that the value of both currencies must be
brought to parity and, to do that, labor productivity must be
increased.

"How
can a producer be motivated in the current circumstances?" I ask
her.

"You’re
asking for a lesson, and I’m going to a party. All I can tell you is
that it’s a big mess," she answers.

Cuba
is more beautiful than that economist but, to keep her alive, we
mustn’t repeat errors but woo her with our acts. All of us Cubans,
authorities and people, agree that reforms must be applied — not
makeup. That’s the challenge that awaits us Sunday.

 

Editor’s Note: These interviews were done on February 15 through the 17, in other words, days before the Fidel Castro message whereby he announces he will not accept the presidency of the Council of State. We believe that these answers are still viable.

Manuel
Alberto Ramy is Havana bureau chief for Radio Progreso Alternativa
and editor of Progreso Semanal, the Spanish-language version of
Progreso Weekly.